Apparatus for opening oysters.



PATBNTED AUG. 2v, 1907.

J.V JAG0BSBN. n APPARATUS POR OPENING OYSTERS..

APPLICATION FILED APB-.18. 1907.

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i ummm" n n,... n n ll'Ummmnulllulluum v u PATBNTED AUG. 27. 1907.

APPLICATION FILED APB.18.1907.

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akmus lTACOB .IACOBSEN, OF EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA.

APPARATUS FOR OPENING OYSTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 27, 1907.

Applicaties ned'Aprii 18,1907. serial No. 368,974.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB J'ACOBSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Chicago, in the county 'of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Open ing Oysters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an apparatus for opening oysters, or for feeding andholding the same while they are being opened, and has for its object to provide an improved apparatus of the kind and for the purpose referred to.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a plan view. Fig. 2 isa side elevation, and Fig. 3 is an end elevation, of the apparatus.

Referring specically to the drawings, l indicates the bin or hopper into which the oysters are thrown previous to opening the same. The front of the bin is provided with an opening indicated at 3, at the bottom thereof, which is opened or closed by a slide 2 opened or operated by means of a handle 7, and closed by means 'of a spring 1l coiled around a rod sustained by lugs 12 one of which projects from the front of the casing and the other of which projects from the slide. The slide works in guides 16, and when it is opened several oysters in the shell are allowed to feed or drop through the opening 3 and down a chute 4 against a holder or gate 5. Said gate is a cuptshaped device made of metal bars and provided with a finger hook 17, and arranged and adapted to be held or manipulated by the left hand of the operator while the oyster is being opened. It has a semi-circular or curved jaw 5a at the ends of which are projections which engage in racks 6 at the side of the chute 4, so that the holder may be shifted or moved to accommodate the oyster being held thereby, the connection with the rack 6 forming a sort of hinge or movable joint by which the holder is retained, allowing the same, however, to be raised or lowered as desired.

' Below or beyond the holder, and disposed oppositely thereto, is a knife 9 formed in two sections pivoted together and having a cross rod 10 located within two spiral springs l5 which 'are connected at their outer ends to the sides of the chute. One section, preferably the lower one, of said knife, has a point 9a, behind which is a shoulder 9f which receives the front end of the other section, the sections being normally held closed by a spring 9 between the handles. The knife 9 has considerable freedom of movement both back and forth and laterally, in consequence of its spring supports 15. Under the point of the knife is an outlet 8 through the bottom of the chute, for the meat of the oysters, with a.

receptacle 13 thereunder, and a receptacle 14 is placed at the end of the chute to receive the shells.

In operation, several oysters being admitted into the chute from the bin the holder 5 is raised to allow the edge of one to project thereunder. Pressure is then applied on the holder, to retain the oyster in place, and the knife 9 is then by a forward or proper movement, pressed betweenv the shells, and when entered its sections are opened, forcing the shells apart and allowing the knife to grasp the oyster and draw the same from the shell and drop it into the tub 13, the shell being then allowed to slide down into the tub 14. The oyster is so held that it is not apt to slip, and by reason of its spring connections the knife cannot readily slip, whereby the danger incident to ordinary shocking is to a large eX- tent avoided.

By the means shown shucking may be safely and 'rapidly performed, and in a more cleanly and sanitary manner `than is usual. Inasmuch as the oyster meat can be grasped by the knife the contact of the hand or lingers is unnecessary.

I claim:

l. In an opener for oysters or the like, the combination with a holder, of a knife having `its point presented toward the holder, and springs connected to opposite sides of the knife and yieldingly supporting the same.

2. In an opener for oysters or the like, the combination with a chute, and a holder adapted to clamp the shell therein and movable toward and from the mouth of the chute, of a knife yieldingly supported in the chute below the holder, with its point presented toward the same.

3. In an opener for oysters or the like, the combination with a chute, and a holder therein, of a knife in the chute, with its point presented toward the holder, and springs connecting the knife to the sides or the chute.

4. In an opener for oysters or the like, the combination with a chute having notches at the sides, of a cupped holder in the chute having projections engageable in said notches, and arranged to hold a shell in the chute, and an opening knife opposite said holder.

In testimony whereof I aflx my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

NELLIE FELTsKoG, H. G. BATCHELOR. 

